Ukrainian defence officials criticized after female soldiers made to march in heels

Ukrainian defence officials have been accused of making a "mockery" of women after official pictures showed female soldiers rehearsing for a military parade while wearing heels. According to BBC, Ukraine’s defence ministry is preparing to stage a military parade on August 24 to mark 30 years of independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union. The officials have plans to have female soldiers march in high heels instead of army boots, which has sparked angry reactions. 

While the defence ministry has reportedly said that the shoes are part of a regulation-dress uniform, Irina Gerashchenko, an opposition member of parliament, said it was sexism, not equality. Several other Ukrainian ministers also expressed shock at the plan. A group of lawmakers have even called on Defence Minister Andriy Taran to offer an apology. 

'Medieval' mindset

As per reports, Gerashchenko said that she initially thought the pictures of women soldiers rehearsing in combat trousers and black pumps with block heels was a hoax. She added it was sexism, not equality, and wondered why the ministry thought heels were more important than designing body armour tailored to women. An army veteran, Maria Berlinskaya, also said that a parade should demonstrate miliary prowess, but this one was to “titillate” senior officials in the grandstands.  

Olena Kondratyuk, who is the deputy parliamentary speaker, pointed out that more than 13,500 women had fought in the current conflict pitting Ukraine against Russian-backed separatists in the east. Kondratyuk called for an investigation into the picture and called them “humiliating” for women. Other critics accused the defence ministry of "sexism and misogyny" and said that high heels are a “mockery of women imposed by the beauty industry".

Moreover, some Ukrainian lawmakers even reportedly took pairs of shoes into parliament as part of their protests and renewed their calls for the defence minister to wear heels to next month's parade. The choice of footwear even sparked a torrent of criticism on social media and in parliament and led to accusations that women soldiers had been sexualised. While taking to Facebook, commentator Vitaly Portnikov called it a “real disgrace” and added that some Ukrainian officials had a “medieval” mindset.

(Image: Twitter)